REIGN PREVIEW – Ontario vs. Colorado, 4/1

WHO: Ontario Reign (36-14-4-3) vs. Colorado Eagles (33-19-4-3)
WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME #58
WHEN: Friday, April 1 @ 7:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Toyota Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: AHLTV – AUDIO: Mixlr – TWITTER: @ShafReign & @ontarioreign

 

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Ontario Reign open up the final month of the 2021-22 season with a weekend series at the friendly confines of Toyota Arena Friday night against the Colorado Eagles. Friday’s meeting is just the second of the season between the two divisional foes, but the clubs will play each other a total of five times during April in the final weeks of the regular season. Ontario is coming off a 6-3 win on Wednesday morning over San Jose, while Colorado punched their ticket to the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs with a win in Stockton in their last outing on Wednesday night. The Reign are in second place in the Pacific Division standings with a points percentage of 0.693, while Colorado in third, six points behind Ontario at 0.619.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The lone clash between the Reign and Eagles earlier this season came in Ontario on Nov. 7 and saw the home team emerge with a 4-3 decision that featured a pair of goals by Jaret Anderson-Dolan along with tallies by Alex Turcotte and Aidan Dudas. All three of Colorado’s goals in that game were scored by defensemen with Jordan Gross netting two in the third period and Dennis Gilbert scoring an unassisted marker in the first. Ontario continues to lead the AHL with an average of 3.93 goals per game, while Colorado is fifth with an average of 3.39 tallies per contest. Ontario’s power play is also No. 1 in the AHL, converting on 26.1% of their opportunities. The Eagles have been playing well as of late, coming into the weekend with wins in seven of their last 10 (7-2-1).

LAST TIME OUT: Forwards Akil Thomas and Samuel Fagemo each scored twice as the Ontario Reign defeated the San Jose Barracuda for the fifth time during the 2021-22 regular season by a 6-3 score on Wednesday morning at the SAP Center. Thomas also added an assist and led the team with three points in the win, while centers Jaret Anderson-Dolan and TJ Tynan each posted two assists. Goaltender Matt Villalta started for Ontario for the fifth straight game and stopped 28 shots to pick up his 24th victory of the season. Ontario continues to hold second place in the AHL’s Pacific Division with a points percentage of 0.693.

THOMAS TURNS IT ON: Forward Akil Thomas was ready to play Wednesday morning, posting his best offensive output of the season in the win over San Jose with two goals and an assist. The second-year pro netted his first strike of the day four minutes in by crashing the net for a rebound off an odd man rush coming into the Barracuda end. Then in the final minute of the opening period, Thomas blasted a pass by Jaret Anderson-Dolan into the cage using a one-timer from in between the circles. In the middle period, Thomas produced his first shorthanded point of the season by feeding the puck to Nikita Pavlychev who found the back of the net to put Ontario in front by a 5-1 score. Thomas is having his best stretch of the season over the past week, posting four points in his last three games with three goals and an assist.

TYNAN TRACKER: Forward TJ Tynan retook the AHL scoring lead on Wednesday with a pair of assists in a win over San Jose. While his 83 points are the most in the league, Tynan’s assist total reached 70 for the season, becoming the first player to reach 70 assists in an AHL campaign in 12 seasons (Keith Aucoin, Hershey 2009-10). The Orland Park, Ill. native has been on the scoresheet in four straight and his points per game average of 1.63 leads the league. Tynan, who was named last year’s AHL Most Valuable Player after the league’s shortened season is also first in power play assists (36) and power play points (38). Tynan’s previous streak of nine straight road games with an assist from Oct. 29 to Jan. 27 is still the longest run in the AHL this season.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES: The latest team to clinch a postseason berth, Colorado also has the lowest number of games remaining on their schedule, with just nine contests to play during April. The Eagles have won their last three outings and have amassed a goal differential of +23 this season. Forward Kiefer Sherwood leads the team with 58 points in 48 games on a team-high 28 goals and 30 assists. Just behind him is Dylan Sikura, who has racked up 56 points with 23 goals and 33 helpers. Defender Jordan Gross leads all AHL blueliners and ranks 12th overall in the league with 54 points (10 goals, 44 assists). Gross’ assist total is also third in the AHL. Justus Annunen has been the team’s backbone in the crease, appearing in 44 games with a 22-12-6 record, two shutouts and a goals-against average of 2.84. Annunen has played the third-most minutes of any goaltender in the league and is on track to surpass 2,500 minutes for the season this weekend.

HICKEY HELPING ON DEFENSE: Defender Thomas Hickey has been a big part of Ontario’s blue line since he joined the club, registering five points in his first five games with the Reign on a goal and four assists. The Calgary, Alta. native had assists in each of his first two games with Ontario Mar. 20 and 22, before scoring his fifth goal of the year in Sunday’s win over Grand Rapids. Most recently, Hickey posted two assists in a win over San Jose on Wednesday morning, helping to set up a goal by Samuel Fagmeo in the first as well as a shorthanded tally from Nikita Pavlychev in the second. Hickey’s shooting percentage on the season is 13.2%, which ranks second among all qualifying AHL defensemen.

NEW FACES FOR THE REIGN: Ontario has had some sizeable shake-ups to its roster over the past three weeks. Injuries at the NHL level with the LA Kings necessitated as many as six call-ups for players to join the NHL club and as a result, new additions have continued to make their way to the Reign roster. First, forward Taylor Ward joined the squad out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha and has five assists in his first five pro games. Next was defenseman Thomas Hickey, who joined the Reign on loan from the New York Islanders and also has five points in his first five contests with Ontario. The Kings then made a pair of deals at the trading deadline to add defenders Frederic Allard and Nelson Nogier to the team’s blueline before the Reign signed forward Alex Ierullo to an ATO Friday upon his completion of a four-year collegiate career at Bemidji State University. The newest faces came on Monday when the Kings announced forwards Samuel Helenius and Andre Lee as well as defender Kim Nouisianen and goaltender David Hrenak were being assigned to Ontario.